Lost and Found: Animal Management Throughout the Roman and the Late Antique Periods Within the Settlement(s) Under the Modern City of Čačak (Western Serbia)

Abstract

Even though archaeozoology of the Roman and the Late Antique periods is a young discipline that has gained momentum in Serbia in recent decades, there is still modest information originating from the area of Western Serbia. So far, the data from the archaeological site Jerinin grad – Brangović has been published (Kukić, Mladenović 2014). However, in the last two years, analyses of archaeofaunal material from the area of present-day Čačak, which includes three sites/locations – Courtyard of the Gymnasium, Courtyard of the National Museum, and Courtyard of the Church of the Ascension of the Holy Virgin – dating back to the Roman and Late Antique periods, have gotten underway. This paper aims to provide an insight into animal management within the same landscape at three different locations through time by comparing taxa ratios, body part profiles, age and sex data, pathological changes, as well as butchery mark patterns between various sites/locations to reveal plausible diachronic and contextual differences in the strategies of animal exploitation.